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“There must always be a discrepncy between concepts and reality, because the former are static and discontinuous while the latter is dynamic and flowing”
William James

Some Problems of Philosophy

At Home

Published: May 14, 2012

For almost three years this post was presented at the beginning of my blog. It was set there as a wish and a reminder for a change in my life. A few days ago I decided it was finally time to let it go. I am at home now. This post is here to tell you that a lot of my energy is now … at home. Though I still write here, I write much more at Bhudeva – an online reflection of our physical home. You can find me here as well as there :)

Posted in Expanding, inside | You are welcome to add your comment

Then and Now

Published: May 14, 2012

Many years ago I had a brief encounter with the Israeli army (like most young men and women I was recruited to regular service – though mine was atypically short). This was not a good time in my life so no fond memories are available from then. I do remember one rainy day in initial training when we were preparing to go to the shooting range. I was charged (together with someone else) with carrying a crate of ammunition. I remember lifting the crate and then a downward movement – the weight of the crate caused me to sink deeper into the mud caused by the rain. Then I remember trying to lift my foot and finding it much heavier then expected due to the huge lump of earth associated with it. Not fun at all.

Yesterday we had excellent rains … light and consistent showers which spectacularly covered the land and all of our crops.  This morning, the moist soil presented an opportunity to do some more planting (especially more potatoes). So we headed outside and had a wonderful couple of hours of work. Everything we planted is mulched (covered with plant remains to keep the soil from drying in the sun and to protect the precious biological life it houses) and just as we were finishing is started raining again.

Numerous times I found myself taking heavy steps … once again carrying healthy chunk of muddy earth with me. This time, however, I didn’t mind it at all. I was working in the mud of my own free will. This time there was a purpose. A purpose I could relate to. A purpose that shed light on the preciousness of the rains and the soil … and the graces which brought my life into this natural abundance. Its so much easier and more pleasant to live a life with a sense of purpose.

I wonder if this is how cob was discovered. The combination of clay-mud and hay makes a very resilient natural substance :)

Posted in Expanding, inside | You are welcome to add your comment

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-05-13

Published: May 13, 2012

  • @raymondpirouz somewhat chilling watching those wall street screens after the PBS Frontline special Power, Money & Wallstreet #
  • avem multa owa si nu avem kloshka … asta este :) #romania #
  • I'm going to be sharing some of newfound appreciation for hebrew: http://t.co/5rsA4RnB #
  • starting with גשם – that's hebrew for "rain": http://t.co/97nZVRCn #
  • @raymondpirouz if Buffet said then … Buffet said: http://t.co/NRrv9MtI :) #
  • here's what happened with our second bee standard-hive to top-bar-hive transition: http://t.co/LCjlVHw9 #
  • our neighbors have lent us a broody hen … maybe she'll get our gals into the mood :) #
  • the hyper-intellectual theories of dull eyed men wearing dull colored suits are dulling humanity … off with their dullness #

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Posted in Twitter Updates | You are welcome to add your comment

Buffet said

Published: May 8, 2012

Taken from the Wall Street Journal

“Warren Buffett said recent reports of a bribery scandal at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s (WMT) Mexico operations haven’t altered his view of investing in the retailer, he told CNBC in an interview.

Buffett said that he has always held that in general, someone at larger corporations is always doing something wrong, and that the company’s job is to get the issue corrected.”

The only way I can accept this as a truth is if I think of Buffet as a corporation (not too difficult to do) and then apply this statement to it. In which case its his job to get this issue corrected … though my hopes are not too high.

Thank you Raymond

Posted in Business, outside | You are welcome to add your comment

Rain

Published: May 7, 2012

Andreea and I were having a conversation about a vision-statement for a new website we will soon be launching to support her Doula-training work in Romania. The direction we were heading in would translate roughly as (a) every woman has a right to choose how to give birth; (b) every woman has a right to support and assist other women in their birth experiences; (c) a Doula is a woman who supports another woman in realizing her birth-related wishes (to give birth as she chooses).

The phrases, once present, continued to go through a process of refinement. One such refinement was around the word “realizing” in the 3rd phrase. I was standing outside, closing up for the day, speaking to Andreea who was standing at the entry to the house and I used the Hebrew word להגשים (“lehagshim”).  However, seconds after Andreea disappeared inside I realized what a difficult task I had left her with – translating that  into Romanian.

Just then, I kid you not, it started to rain and I looked up to the sky, smiled and called Andreea to come back outside. There I was, standing in the rain, and I asked Andreea if she knew what the root word is for להגשים. She didn’t … so I looked to the sky and she soon smiled and got it.

The root word is גשמ.

Another word that branches out of this root is גשמי (“gashmi”) which means corporeal or physical.

Or if you simply replace the last letter of the root word with a final letter (there are a few letters in Hebrew that have two variations – one used inside a word and another used at the end) you get  גשם which means “rain”.

Rain falls down to the earth. Things that come from the heavens to the earth become real … they manifest. להגשים means “to make real” … and indeed a Doula is there to support a woman as she transforms her birth-related wishes into an unforgettably real experience.

In hebrew rain, which will awaken the potential of our newly planted seeds and enable them to become mature plants that feed us, is rooted in the idea of making things real.  Helping other transform their wishes into reality …. thats sounds like a great thing to do. Andreea’s eyes sparkled with realization … however it didn’t make her task of translation any easier :)

Sidenote: it seems that in business lingo Rainmaker is someone who gets things done … brings in a lot of business … hmmm :)

Posted in Hebrew, inside | You are welcome to add your comment